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SPEECH 



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HON. THADDEUS STEVENS 

OF PENNSYLVANIA, 



ON THE BILL 



TO EAISE ADDITIONAL SOLDIERS. 



""} 



DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEB. 2, \U\ 



The House having under consideration the bill to raise additional soldiers for the service 
of the Government, Mr. STEVENS said : 

Mr. (Spbakkr: in the course ot this protracted debate, no gentleman has ex- 
pressed his opiuious with more candor than the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. 
May] who has just taken his seat. He avows his hostility to this bill because 
he is ppposed to the war. 1 do not expect any gentleman who will avow him- 
self opposed to the war to vote for this bill, because I am quite sure that the 
bill itself is a very efficient engine in carrying on this war. Hence the gentle- 
man from Maryland cannot be expected to vote for a bill whose beneficial ef- 
fects on the war are so evident. This bill has been opposed on various grounds ; 
by some true and loyal men, whose prudence, however, generally degenerates 
into timidity ; by otnerson that side of the House whom 1 am not at liberty to 
deem disloyal, but whose arguments and acts compel the belief that they are 
strong sympathizers with their " wayward sisters." 

it said that we have already so large an army that we have no need of more 
soldiers, and that this will cause a needless expense, it will require some three 
or four mouths to raise one hundred and fifty thousand. By that time, about 
June, the time of the two years men of iSew York, and of the nine months 
men, will expire. They will take from the Army, 1 think, at least three hua- 
dred thousand men. How are you to supply their place except by colored solr ■■ 
diersif It is said by our opponents that in the present temper ot the country 
you could not raise in the whole North fifty thousand men by voluntary enlist^ 
ment, and that to enforce conscription is out of the question. It may be so; 
and if it be so, it is useless, perhaps, to inquire what lias produced, this condi- 
tion of the public mind. iSo doubt the unhappy management of the war, and. , 
■want of successful battles, have done something toward it. An unsuccessful. J 
war is always unpopular. 

Another great cause is the conduct of partisan demagogues. The Democratic 
leaders — and when 1 speak ot Democrats in these remarks, 1 beg to be under- 
stood as not including those true L>emocracts W|ho support the war and give 
their aid to the Administration — the Democratic leaders, 1 say, have been busy 
for the last year in denouncing the war and the Administration. They tell the 
people that this is an abolition war, a war for the negro, and not for the Union ; * 
that our southern brethren have been injured, and that we ought to lay down 
our arms and compromise. During the last electioneering campaign through- / 
out Pennsylvania, and i suppose the whole North, when the new volunteers 
were called for, Democratic leaders traveled everywhere and adviced that no 
Democrat .should volunteer, but stay at home and carry the election and re- 
gain power. The masses followed their advice; scarcely any Democrats joioedi 
the volunteers. 



Another thing that has cooled the ardor of the people is the rivalry among' 
the officeis, and the evident sympathy of a large portion of them with the 
rebels. Our armies have been in the hands of men who had no lieart in the 
cause, and who have demoralized the Army; and such demoralization hasbeea 
transferred to their friends at home. Hence, if we are to continue this war, 
we must call in the aid of Africans, slaves as well as freemen. 

But gentlemen speak boastfully of the power of the white men of the North, 
and that we have a million men in the field, and need no other aid. Sir, I have 
as high an opinion of the valor of northern men as any man can have ; but, 
instead of having a million, I do not believe we have now half that number of 
effective soldiers. Sickness, the sword, and absenteeism have taken half our 
troops ; and in four mouths one fourth more will be taken by the expiration of 
their time. 

"But suppose we could recruit our armies by white volunteers, i."? that any ar- 
gument against emplaying blacks? Why should our race be exposed to suffer- 
ing and disease, when the African might endure his equal share of it? Is it 
wise, is it humane, to send your kindred to battle and to death when you might 
put the colored man in the ranks, and let him bear a ])art of the conflict be- 
tween the rebels and his enfranchised slave ? Why should these bloody graves 
be filled with our relatives rather than with the property of traitors slain by 
their own masters, who, in their turn, would fall by the hands of the oppress- 
ed ? I have but little respect for the northern man who would save the rebels' 
property at the expense of the life of white men, 

We have heard repeated the usual slang of Democi-ats, so freely and falsely 
nsed by them to prejudice the minds of the people, that Republicans are trying 
to make the black man equal in all things to the white. The distinguished 
gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Wickuffe] and his allies from Ohio have talked 
of Sambo's commanding white men. Sir, the bill contains no such provisions. 
Thev are to be employed only as soldiers or non-commissioned officers as is 
provided by the original bill and by the amendments as now proposed. I do 
not expect to live to see the day when, in this Christian land, merit shall coun- 
terbalance the crime of color. True, we propose to give them an equal chance 
to meet death on the battle-field. But even then, their great achievements, if 
equal to those of Dessalinet^, would give them no hope of honor. TRe only 
place where they can find equality is in the grave. There all God's children 
are equal.^ 

But it is said that our soldiers would object to their employment iu arms. It 
would be a strange taste that would prefer, themselves, to face the death- 
bearing heights of Fredericksburg, and to be buried in trenches at the foot of 
them, than to see it done by colored soldiers. 1 do not believe it. My col- 
league [Mr. Wright] said that he had heard some of our officers sa}- that if we 
thus used them they would lay down their arms and retire from the army. 
In God's name let them go. They are rebels in heart, and ought to be in the 
confederate army rather than in ours, to demoralize our soldiers. My colleague 
ought to report their names to the proper department, that they may be tried 
and inexorably shot. 

The gentleman from Kentucky objects to their employment, lest it should 
lead to the freedom of the blacks. He says that he fights only for the freedom 
of his ov/n white race. That sentiment is unworthy the high reputation of the 
friend and compeer of the great statesman of the West. That patriotism that 
is wholly absorbed by one's own country is narrow and selfish. That philan- 
thropy which embaaces' only* one's own race, and leaves the other numerous 
races of mankind to bondage and to misery, is cruel and detestable. IBut we 
are not fighting for the freedom of the slaves — we are fighting for the life of 
the nation ; and if, in the heat of such strife, the chains of the bondman are 
melted off, I thank God all the more.._ The distinguished, and, I would fain 
believe, the learned, gentleman from Kentucky exclaimed : " When before did 
any civilized country call on slaves to fight their battles? When did Sparta, 
or Athens, or Rome?" I must attribute this interrogative assertion to lack of 
memory. 

I ask, when did any civilized nation refuse to use their slaves in the defence 
of their country, when its exigencies required it? Never I All have used 



g 

them, and uniformly given their freedom for their services. Sparta and 
Athens on many occasions armed their Helots. They were always their armor- 
bearers. That I may not be suspected of speaking without authority, I will 
read a few passages from Roman history. In Arnold's Rome, it is said : 

"The other consul, Tiberius SemproniuB, was to have no other Eoman army than two 
legions of volunteer slaves." — Page 17.5. 

" A graduated ]iroperiy tax was imposed for the occasion. They were required to furnish 
a certain number of slaves as seamen ; to arm and equip them," &c. — Page 192. 

"The slaves, also, were again invited to enlist, ani two legions were composed out of 
them."— Page 192. 

"But there is no reason to doubt that Gracchus gained an important victory; and it was 
rendered famous by his giving liberty to .the volunteer slaves by whose valor it had mainly 
been won. Some of these behaved ill in the action, and were afraid they should be punished, 
rather than rewarded; but Gracchus first set them all free without distinction, and then 
sending for those who had misbehaved, made them severally swear that they would eat and 
drink standing so long as their military service should last, by way of penance for their fault. 
8ueh a sentence, so different from the usual merciless severity of the Eoman discipline, added 
to the general joy of the army. The soldiers marched back to Beneventum in triumph, and 
the peop[e poured out to meet them, and entreated Gracchus that they might invite them all 
to a public entertainment. Tables were set out In the streets, and the freed slaves attracted 
every one's notice by their white caps, the well-known sign of their enfranchisement, and by 
the strange sight of those who, in the fnlfllment of their penance, ate standing, and waited on 
their worthier comrades The whole delighted the generous and i<ind nature Gracchus To set 
free the slave and to relieve the poor appear to have been hereditary virtues in his familv." 
—Page 205. 

* 

How different was the heart of the pagan Gracchus from the heart of the 
Christian Keutucki-an! How different the feelings of the noble Roman people 
from what is, I believe falsely, alleged to be the feelings of our brave soldiers! 
As the speech of the gentleman from Kentucky is not yet published, I beg re- 
spectfully to suggest whether his reputation does not require that he should 
correct its histor\'. 

But we are told that Kentucky will resist; that our recruiting officers will 
be driven pell-mell from the State; that the proclamation is unconstitutional; 
and that we and the President are doing mischief and aggravating the South. 
Sir, that sounds so exactly like what I was "accustomed to hear fr<ma that side 
of the House some years ago, when those seats were occupied bj' those who 
are now officers in the rebel army, that I am fain to inquire whether' their spirit 
has not been left behind theiu. 

It is vain to deaj' that the Democratic party as now organized, having re- 
ceived into their embraces the border State men, are using every effort to 
obstruct the war, to embarrass the Administration, and thus compel us to lay 
down our arms and submit to peace such as Jeff. Davis shall dictate. I say 
(the old slaveiiolding Whigs have become a part of the Democratic party. If I 
am rightly informed, the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky [ilr. Crit- 
tenden] last summer wrote a letter into his district in favor of the re-election 
of the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. Cox.] I had hardly expected to see the day 
when that distinguished leader of the Whigs should become the subaltern and 
train to the command of the gentlemen from Ohio, [Messrs. Vallanlugham and 
Cox] 

My colleague said that when we laid down at night we were not sure that 
when we arose in the morning we should have a Government I appreciate 
the intimation, for I verily believe that the Democratic party throughout the 
North are holding secret tueetings under the name of Knights of the Golden 
Circle, and plotting to seize the Government and depose the President. I do 
not believe tiiey will succeed, but I have sufficient evidence that such is their 
intention. 

Two years ago, when I had occasion to address this House, I declared my 
conviction that neither Congress, nor the Administration, nor the people, rea- 
lized the magnitude of the war in which we were engaged, and the dilHculty 
of its suppression; that the rebels were as brave as we, and had better gener- 
als, who were more in earnest than our own ; that men who, after a dehbera- 
tion of thirty years, had entered upon so perilous an enterprise, involving 
property, wife and children, and their own lives, would never submit 
until they were totally exhausted and unable to continue th^ war; and 
that that would never be done imtil you took from them their support 



the pTaves. I have seen no reason to change my opinion. I have seen 
two years of bloody war elapse with balanced success. I have seen our 
debt accumulate to a grievous amount. I have seen many a bleeding heart; 
many a mother weeping for her slaughtered son, tens of thousands of our 
neighbors go'ne to an untimely grave, and the rebels are not yet subdued. And 
yet we are told that we must not stop the further effusion of white blood by 
the employment of the oppressed slave against his oppressor. Sir, to which 
side do such men belong? Are they with the Republic, or are they like Cethe- 
gus and Lentulus sitting in the Roman senate, while their associate, Catiline, 
was with the rebel army outside the walls? 

But they say this tends to excite servile war. I believe no such thing. 
Disciplined troops under the Articles of War do not engage in insurrection. 
But suppose it were so : which is the most cruel, which the most to be depre- 
cated — an exterminating war between the oppressed and his oppressor, or a 
murderous warfare by uninjured citizens against the unoffending Government 
which had protected them, and was the hope of the freedom of the world? 
Can servile war produce more inhuman scenes than are now enacted by the 
rebels ? Here is one of frequent instances, as given in an Indiana democratic 
paper : 

" I'.EiiRLS Shooting Nbgkoes. — We have noticed the fact of the shooting of the negroes 
found on the Union transports lately burned by the rebels at Harpeth Shoals, on the Cumber- 
land. The New Albany (Indiana) Ledger, of the 20th, gives the following account of the 
affair : 

" 'The most atrocious avA cold-blooded affair of the present war is the shooting of some 
eighteen of the negro cabin boy§ and cooks on the steamers lately captured at Harpeth 
Shoals. These men and boys were tied and taken to an open field near the Shoals, and de- 
liberately shot down in cold blood. Two of the negro servants on the Sidell got in between 
the wheel and stern of the boat, and let themselves down into the water, holding on to the 
rudder. They were discovered by the rebels, and several soldiers were ordered into a skiff, 
and rowing close up to the unfortunate negroes, discharged the contents of their muskets at 
them, literally blowing their heads into atoms. 

"'The damnable villainy of such cold-blooded murder cannot but fill every heart with the 
fiercest indignation, and will beget measures of the bloodiest retaliation. 

'"The life of the chambermaid of the Trio was saved by Mr. Hurly, the clerk, claiming 
her as his slave whom he was removing to Kentucky. And even with this pretext, he had the 
greatest diflBeulty in saving her from death at the hands of the bloody-minded commander of 
the rebels, Colonel Wade We hope this scoundrel may be captured, and if he is, quartering 
would be a slight penalty for his villaneous murder of these unoffending negroes. His acta <rf 
barbarity have scarcely an equal even in the history of the most savage warfare.' " 

Mr. CRAVENS. Nevertheless, that is a loyal paper, true to the Constitution 
and the Union. 

Mr. STEVENS. I do not doubt that. If a servile war were the only means 
to save this Republic, I should welcome it as a measure of humanity. 

I regret that anybody, in these days of trouble, should take advantage of the 
condition of the country, as the Democrats have done, for party purposes. But 
I am not surprised at it. Eighteen months ago, when we were passing our tax 
bill, so absolutely necessary to sustain the war, the gentleman from Ohio 
threatened us with its effect on our party. I answered him that I knew what 
use would be made of it by unprincipled demagogues who preferred party to 
country, that I knew how odious taxation always was; and that the unthink- 
ing masses would be swayed by those feelings. 

I went further, and said, what I remember our friends thought indiscreet 
and inooi'rect, that I expected to see the next Cengress in other Republican 
hands. But no such considerations could control my conduct. I should do 
what I believed the country required, even at the sacrifice of political power. 
I have not changed my mind ; and unless we put more energy into the com- 
manding generals, and gain victories, all I predicted will happen. What then f 
Why, su^-h triumphs are the triumphs of the friends of the rebellion, and will 
do more to divide the Union than twenty rebel victories. The secession news- 
papers all treat a Democratic victory as their victory. And they expect when 
they come into power that their independence will be acknowledged without 
delay. So the foreign Governments look upon it. Within a few days. Sena- 
tor Foote offered the following resolutions in the confederate congress, and 
they were received with favor: 



5 

"The people of the confederate States of America having, in the progress of the pending 
war, most cli-arly demonstrated their al)ility to maintain by arms the claim to separate iiide- 
pendencf, wliieh they have heretofore asserted before the world, and being inflexibly resolved 
never to relinquish the struggle in which they are engaged until the great struggle for which 
thev have been contending shall have been finally accomplished ; in view of the fact that a 
great political reaction in opposition to the bloody and unnr.tural war now in a course of 
prosecution has displayed itself in several of the most populous and influential Stales of 
what was once honorably known as 'The United States of America;' and in view of ihe ad- 
ditional fact that, even among the avowed opponents of despotism and the recognized 
friends of peace in the North, a grave and deplorable misapprehension has ol latp arisen in 
regard to the true condition of public sentiment in the South touching the question of re- 
constructing that political Union once existing under the protection ot what is known as 
the Federal Constitution : now, in order that no further misunderstanding of the kind re- 
ferred to may hereafter prevail, and in order that the unchangeable determination of our 
government and people, in reference to the terms upon which alone they would bring the 
sanguinary struggle to a close, may be made known, the congress of the confederate States 
of America do resolve as follows : 

" 1. There is no plan of reconstructing what was formerly known as the Federal Union, 
to which the people of the confederate States will ever consent. Wrongs too grievous and 
multiplied have been committed upon us and upon our most cherished rights, by a united 
North, since this unprovoked and most wicked war commenced ; a majority of the peopl of 
the Northern States have too evidently shown themselves to be utterly incapable of self- 
government and unmindful of all the fundamental principles upon which alone republican 
tostitulions can be maintained : they have too long submitted patiently to the iron rule or 
the basest and most degraded despotism that the world has yet known ; for too long a period 
<rf time they have openly and unblushingly sympathized with the lawless and ferocious mis- 
creants who have been sent into the bosom of the unoffending South to spill the precious 
blood of our most valued citizens— to pollute and desecrate all that we hold in especial re- 
spect and veneration— to rob us of our property— to expel us from our homes, and wantonly 
to devastate our country— to allow even of the possibility of our ever again consenting to 
hold the least politifal connection with those who have so cruelly outraged our sensibilities, 
BBd so profoundly dishonored themselves, and in association with whom we feel that wa 
ODuld not expect that freedom which we love, that self-respect which we are determined ever 
to cultivate, and the esteem and sympathy of civilized and Christian nations. 

"2. While the confederate Stales of America are not at all responsible for the existing 
war, and have been at all times ready to participate in suob arrangements as would be best 
gnited to bring it to a close, in a manner consistent with their own safety and honor, they 
could not yield their consent to an armintice of a single day or hour, so long as the incen- 
diary proclamation of the atrocious monster now bearing rule in Washington City shall re- 
main unrevoked ; nor could the government of said confederate States agree to negotiate at 
nil in regard to a suspension of hostilities, except upon the basis of a formal and uncon- 
ditional recognition of their independence. 

"8 Whenever the friends of peace in the North shall grow strong enough to constrBin 
Abraham Lincoln and his flagitious Cabinet to withdraw said proclamation, and propose an 
armistice upon the basis aforesaid, the government of the confederate Stales will be ready to 
Secede to said proposition of armistice with a view to the settlement of all the existing 
difficulties. 

" 4 Should peace be at any time brought about, the confederate States of America would 
freely consent to the formation of a iust and mutually advantageous commercial treaty with 
all the States now constituting the United Slates, except New England— with whose people, 
and in whose ignoble love of gold and brutifying fanaticism, this disgraceful war has mainly 
originated; in consideration of which fact the people of the confederate States of America 
are flrmly and deliberately resolved to have no intercourse whatever hereafter, either direct 
or indirect, political, commercial, or social, under any circumstances which could be possibly 
imagined to exist, with said States of New England or the people therein resident. 

"5. The government of the confederate States, in consideration of the change in publhs 
Sentiment which has occurred in several of the northern States, wherein political electiona 
have been recently held— sympathizing most kindly with those by whose manly exertions 
that change has been brought about — would be willing to conclude a just and honorable peace 
with any one or more of said States who (renouncing all political connections with New 
England) mav be found willing to stipulate for desisting at once from the further prosecution 
Of the war against the South, and in such case the government of the confederate States would 
he willing to enter into a league, offensive and defensive, with the States thus desisting, of a 
permanent and enduring character. 

" 6. The government of the confederate States is now willing, as it has heretofore repeated- 
ly avowed Itself to be, whenever the States bordering upon the Mississippi river, or any of 
them, shall have declared their inclination to withdraw from the further prosecution of the 
war upon the South, [which, could it be succe-sful, would only have the effect of destroying 
their own best market,] to guaranty to them, in the most etfectual and satisfactory manner, 
the peaceful and uninterrupted navigation of the said Mississippi river and its tributaries, and 
to open to them at once the markets of the South, greatly enhanced in value to them as they 
would be by the permanent exclusion of all articles of New England growth or manulacture. 

"7. The course of practical neutrality in regard to the pending war heretofore pursued by 
the States and territories west of the Rocky mountains, has afforded the highest gratification 
to the people of the confederate States of America; and it is hoped that the day is not far dis- 
tant when said States and Territories, consulting their own obvious safety and luture welfare, 
will withdraw from all political connection with a Government which has heretofore been a 
source of continual oppression to them; and when said States andTcrrilories,asserting their sep- 
arate independence, shall appropriate to themselves the manifold advantages sure to result 
from such a movement ; among which maybe reckoned: 1. Relief from grievous and ex- 
hausting tariff regulations now being rigidly enforced. 2. Relief from all the discredit result- 



log Inevitably from the prosecution of the present anjust and unauthorized war. 3. Relief 

from the pressure of a despotism the most heartless and atrocious ever yet established. 4. 
Relief from the crushing weisht of taxation iinavoidahly growing out of the war. 5. The 
exclusive use and enjoyment of all the rich mineral lands stretchinjj alonji the slope of the 
Paeiflo. 6. Free trade with all the nations of the earth, and a future maritime growth and 
power that has no parallel; and lastly, a monoply of the trade of the Pactfle ocean. 

"8. ReKolved^ That the president be respectfully requested, if he shall apiirove these reso- 
lutions, to cause them to be promulgated and transmitted to the States of the North by such 
means as he shall deem most judicious: and that he accompany thera, if he shad think it ad- 
Tisablc. with such an address or proclamation expository of the matters embodied therein as 
he shall judge most suitable and proper." 

I have been at a loss to decide who was the real author of these resolutione ; 
whether one of the gentlemen from Ohio [Mr. Cox or Mr. Vallandigham] or 
the rebel senator himself. After st.iting most distinctly what they have always 
adliered to, that they would accept no negotiation except on the basis of abso- 
lute independence, they express a hope that, in view of the great political re- 
action, their friends, the Democrats, in the North will soon be able to offer such 
proposition. They will hold no negotiations with the "atrocious monster" 
Abraham Lincoln; but when their friends, the Democrats, (this is a fair infer- 
ence,) shall compel Lincoln and his "atrocious" Cabinet to withdraw his infa- 
mous proclamation, (which Foote hates about as bad as the other side of this 
House,) they will entertain terms of peace with all the old States except New 
England. She must be forever excluded from the new Union to be formed be- 
tween the Democratic party and the traitors. Now, sir, I am at a loss to know 
whether Foote stole the ideas from the gentlemen from Ohio, or whether they 
Stole them from him. I think they were first promulgated by the northern 
party in New York. It is very evident, however, that the parties had a fiill 
understanding of each other's views. Such remarkable concurrence of plans 
and ideas could hardly be accidentaL 

The gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. Cox,] in answer to the gentleman from Iowa, 
[Mr. Wilson,] denied that in his New York speech he advi.sed the exclusion of 
New England, as Foote does. I do not say that, in as direct and candid lan- 
guage as the rebel senator, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Cox] made that rec- 
ommendation. He denies it. I have looked at his speech within the last few 
minutes, and am reminded by it of the speech of another famous orator of an- 
cient times. Marc Antony. [Laughter.] The gentleman from Ohio tells the 
people of New York that there is a growiug determination on the part of tb« 
people of the Northwest not to hold any further communion with the people 
of New England. He hopes that that feeling will not prevail; and then 
he goes on, through about four pages, to denounce New England as un- 
worthy of such association, and as deserving to be excluded from the Union. 

I remember that Marc Antony was allowed to deliver an oration at the fune- 
ral of Caesar, only on the condition that he would not attempt to stir up sedi- 
tion. In that speech he says : 

"But Brutus says, he was ambitious, 
And Brutus is an honorable man ; 
So are they all; all honoiable men." 

* * * » » 

"I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." 

" But Brutus says, he was ambitious. 
And Brutus is an honorable man.'' 

***** 

" Caesar brought many captives home to Rome, 
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.'' 

****** 

"When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: 
Tet Brutus says, he was ambitious, 
Aiid Brutus is an honorable man.'' 

- He tells the people that Caesar had made them his heir by his will, and then 
showing his bloody mantle, he cried : 

" Look ! In this place ran Cassius' dagger through ; 
See, what a rent the envious Casoa made ; 
Through this, the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd." 



And then, very Cox-like, he cried: 

" Good friends, sweet friends, lot me not stir you up," 
They ttiat have done this deed are honorable." 

That seems precisely the way in which my friend from Ohio goes on. I will 
read one or two words from his speech, which he has kindly loaned me in 
illustration. After denouncing New England in the bitterest terms, he says: 

"The West do not complain merely that their interests are sacrificed by New England 
•apitalisis for their aggrandizement, but they detest the idea of Puritan politics." 

Page 5, again : 

" In the history which posterity will read, the puritans will play the part of intermeddling 
destructives, self-willed and intolerant beyond any characters yet known in history." " If 
■he is not driven from the Union, she will be humiliated in it." 
But, friends, good friends, let me not stir you up. 

" Brutus is an honorable man ; 
So are they all ; all honorable men." 

The gentleman from Ohio would not at all stir up disunion. He came "to 
bury Caesar, not to praise him." 

It is said that colored soldiers are cowardly and unfit for battle. I will not 
repeat what I have ah-eady said on that point. But all history contradicts it; 
from the time of Juba and Syphx and the terrible Nuniidian cavalry, down 
through our revolution and the armies of Jackson, to the present time. 1 send 
you living evidences in the Jetter of Gen. Saxton, which the Clerk will please 
read. 

The Clerk read, as follows : 

Bbaupobt, South Caeolina, January 25, 1868. 

Deab Sir: I have the honor to report that the organization of the first regiment of South 
Carolina volunteers is now completed. The regiment is light infantry, composed ol ten com- 
panies of about eighty-six men eai^h, armed with muskets and officered by while men. In 
organization, drill, disciplitie, and morale, this reeiment, for the leuglh of time it has been 
in service, is not surpassed by any white regiment in this department. Slionld it ever be its 
good fortune to get into action, 1 have no fear but it will win its own way to the confidenc* 
of those who arc willing to recognize courage and manhood, and vindicate the wise policy of 
the Administration in putting these men into the field, and giving them a chance to strike a 
blow for the country and their own liberty. In no regiment have 1 ever seen duty performed 
with so much cheerfulness and alacrity; and as sentiuels, they are peculiary vigilant. I havw 
never seen, in any body of men, such enthusiasm and deep-seated devotion to their officer* 
as exists in this : they will surely go wherever they are led. Kvery man is a volunteer, and 
seems fully persiiuded of the importance of his service to his race, lu the organization of this 
regiment 1 have labored under «lifficulties which might have discouraged one who had less 
faith in the wisdom ot the measure; but I am glad to report that the experiment is a complete 
tuccess. My belief is, that when we get a footing on the main land, regiments may be raised 
which will do more than any low in service to put an cn«l to this rebellion. 

I have teni the regiment on an expedition to the coast of Georgia, the result of which I shall 
report for your iuformation as soon as it returns. I have the honor, also, to report that 1 have 
commenced the organization of the second regiment, which is to be commanded by (Jolooel 
Montgomery. 

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

K. SAXTON, Brigadl&r Om&mi. 
HoK. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

Mr. DIVEN. Mr. Speaker, in connection with the testimony furnished in favor 
of the employment ot the slave, I desire to supply the testimony of the most 
remarkable uian of modern Italy, whe, while an exile from his beloved country, 
with all the ardor of his nature, entered the service of the Republicans of 
Brazil, who were seeking to extricate themselves from the tyranny of the Bra- 
zilian emperor, in the description of one of the battles between the Republi- 
•an and Imperial parties, I find this passage : 

"The terrible lancers of Canabarro had already made a movement forward, confusing the 
right flank of the enemy, which was therefore obliged to change front in confusion. The 
brave lieedmen, proud of thisir lorce, became more firm and resolute, and that incomparable 
•orps preseuted to view a for«st of lances, being composed entirely of slaves liberatec by th« 
republic and chosen from the best horse tamers in the province, and all of them blacks, even 
tbe superior officers. The enemy had never seen the backs of those true sons of libetty. 



Their lances, which were longer than the common measure, their ebony faces and robnst 
limbs, strengthened by perennial and laborious exercise, and their perfect discipline, struck 
terror into the enemy." 

A Member. Wh^t do you read from ? 

Mr. DIVEN. From the Life of Garibaldi by himself, page 63. 

Mr. STEVENS. My colleague from Luzerne says the true way to succeed is 
to restore Gen. McClellau. I know the Democratic officers and others hav« 
been tampering with the Army through disloyal newspapers and otherwise to 
inculcate that idea among the soldiers. Sir, when the success of this war de- 
pends on one man's word, it is time to surrender our independence. But I 
have a better opinion of our citizen soldiers. I was a friend of Gen. McClel- 
lan, although unacquainted with him, because his excellent and able father 
was one of my most intimate friends. But when I learn from authenic records 
that he deliberately and habitually disobeyed the explicit orders of the Presi- 
dent and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, (and 1 may say here that I have 
reason to know that he treated the gallant Lieutenant General before he re- 
tired in the same way,) 1 think he has reasoo to be thankful that he has escaped 
without seveie punishment No other nation in the world would have per- 
mitted it. Many would have visited it with death. 

My colleague is still hopeful, because he says there is a God. Yes, sir, I be- 
lieve there is a God, an avenging God, who is now punishing the sins of this 
nation for the wicked wrongs which for centuries we have inflicted on a blame- 
less race, and which many of you wish to make perpetual, I will say to my col- 
league, and to those who believe in divine retribution, what I have before 
said ; " hasten to do justice and stay the sword of the destroying angel." 

1 believe that if the course which we now propose had been adopted eigh- 
teen months ago, we should now have peace and universal liberty on this con- 
tinent. But the timidity of conservatives, the clamor of Deraocratic dema- 
gogues, and the insiduous counsels of Kentucky prevented our excellent and 
kind hearted President from making stern resolves, and using every legiti- 
mate means to crush the rebels. Sir, 1 would not have on my conscience the 
blood of the tens of thousands who have thus been sacrificed, and which must 
rest on the souls of its authors, for all the spoils of office, for all the allure- 
ments of the presidential chair, nor for all the diamonds that ever glittered in 
Golconda. 



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